New Carrot research reveals a significant gap between the fertility care UK employees want and the benefits most are offered, and advises what HR, benefits and people leaders can do about it.
Why this matters for UK employers
1 in 7 couples in the UK experience difficulty conceiving. Fertility challenges affect employees at every level, in every team, yet benefit design rarely reflects what those employees actually want.
Among UK respondents to Carrot’s Beyond IVF 2026 survey, 80.8% are aware of IVF, but only 57.1% would consider it. That 24-point gap is the largest of any fertility option in the survey, driven by consistent preference for alternatives:
- 81.5% of UK respondents would prefer a less invasive option before IVF
- 83.3% would choose a lower-cost option first if given clinical guidance
- Only 3.6% of UK respondents have actually used IVF
The findings in our report have direct implications for how fertility benefits should be designed.
The NHS context and what it means for employer benefits
58% of UK respondents rely on NHS-only coverage. NHS fertility provision is postcode-dependent, increasingly restricted, and structured around a defined pathway. For many UK employees, employer fertility benefits represent the most reliable route to comprehensive, equitable, and timely care.
The most compelling employer benefit in this context is one built on quality, range, and clinical navigation rather than coverage as a concept.
What’s covered in the report
- The 24-point IVF awareness gap and what it means for benefit design
- IUI: the UK’s largest fertility awareness gap and the opportunity it represents
- Metabolic health and men’s health: strong patient appetite, limited clinical engagement
- The fertility education gap: what employees needed earlier and didn’t receive
- How the NHS baseline shapes what employer benefits need to deliver
- Six evidence-based priorities for UK fertility benefit design
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